


Ghost of a Prayer

by UnshadowedHeart



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Angst, Death, Ghosts, M/M, Paranormal, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-02
Updated: 2013-12-02
Packaged: 2018-01-03 05:51:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1066678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnshadowedHeart/pseuds/UnshadowedHeart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"Don't you see?" A single tear slid down his cheek. "This was the only way we could be together."</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ghost of a Prayer

When Carlos opened his eyes everything was different.

It was different, but the same.

He blinked differently, he moved his fingers differently, he twitched differently. The simple motions of standing up and walking out the door, chest wrapped his bandages, were so foreign. They were familiar, but _alien_.

That was when he'd picked up his phone.

He'd never before seen Cecil. But Cecil was oddly…ordinary. He was not so tall, but not short, and not very thin, but he wasn't very fat either. He was soft, almost wide, and average, turning his head away when Carlos looked upon him. He had the loveliest, lightest eyes that Carlos had ever seen, yet so…unremarkable, and embarrassment dusted his cheeks like a soft glow.

He hadn't said anything, instead they had sat on the trunk of his car and touched idly. Cecil didn't press him, and Carlos didn't talk.

On their first date Carlos wondered why Cecil looked so guilty, and then why he hadn't gone on a date with Cecil sooner.

Their first kiss tasted like electricity on Carlos' tongue.

The guilty look never faltered, no matter how many dates they went on, no matter how many times they kissed, no matter how long they dated. Cecil always looked sad and guilty.

"You're up late," Carlos murmured as he hugged Cecil from behind the couch. He felt Cecil jump under his arms, but relax into the embrace. "Come back to bed."

"In a bit." Cecil kissed him and dragged his finger over Carlos' palm, pressing his face into his forearm and sighing softly. "I love you, Carlos."

Though surprised by the sudden confession, Carlos cracked a smile and pressed his nose into Cecil's neck. "I love you too, Cecil." He twisted their fingers together and let out a deep breath. That strangeness after his near-death experience had never dwindled, but he had learned to accept it.

Speaking of that moment… "Cecil, I never thanked you."

"For what?"

"If you hadn't told me I should check out the ruckus at the Bowling Alley… Well, I don't know where I'd be right now. If I hadn't had that near-death experience, then…then I wouldn't have asked to see you. And I wouldn't have asked you out." Carlos felt Cecil tense under his touch. His fingers splayed over Cecil's forearm and rubbed the vein on the underside of his wrist. "Something wrong?"

"No, no… It's just," Cecil took a deep breath, sighing deeply, "I just love you so…so much, Carlos."

Carlos squeezed Cecil's hand and smiled against his neck, lips moving in a quick, soft kiss, mirroring a gentle 'I love you too.' That said, he kissed Cecil on the cheek and headed back to bed, tossing a, "Come to bed soon," over his shoulder.

\-----

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Carlos' voice was echoing around the empty hallway. Cecil was shrinking under his gaze. "What the _hell_ is wrong with you? Is that what's been going on this entire time?"

Cecil was crying, pale tears dripping from his jawline to the floor. A weak sob escaped him as he held his face in his hands. He crumpled to the floor before Carlos, and he saw something in Cecil he'd never noticed before; but it had most definitely been there.

Regret.

"I didn't mean to," Cecil sobbed, finally looking up to Carlos, not unlike a worshiper unto a god. Reverence and fear.

"Bullshit!" Carlos was going red in the face, his own tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. "That is _bullshit_!" He yanked Cecil to his feet by the front of his horrendously tacky sweater vest. "Tell me _right now_ what is going on!"

Cecil couldn't meet his gaze. He was trembling. "Don't you see?" A single tear slid down his cheek. "This was the only way we could be together."

When their eyes met it was Carlos' turn to look away.

"You _killed_ me." Carlos thought that might be a line in a cheesy romcom; unfortunately his was no romantic comedy, and it wasn't even metaphorical. "You _killed_ me, Cecil!"

"No!" Cecil looked frantic as he tried to grasp for Carlos, who pulled away. "No, I didn't, I just- I…I didn't know what to do, I thought… I thought if I gave you the tip, you might… You might have…an accident. And then we- we could be…together. Forever."

Carlos shucked off Cecil's hands with a look of disgust. "You set this up- you- you…" Words failed him. Devastation and disgust settled on his features, leaving Cecil heartbroken and gutted. " _Why_?"

"B-because- because…" Cecil had sunk down to his knees, shaking in Carlos' shadow. "Because you wouldn't have noticed me. Outsiders can't see me."

"But before the bowling alley I- I _talked_ to you! I was- I was at the station, too, and…" And he had never _seen_ Cecil. Never touched him before that night under the lights above the Arby's.

He took several steps back. Cecil panicked. "No, no! Carlos, I love you _so_ much, I love you, I love you!" He threw himself at Carlos' feet, clinging to him as he shook with terror. "Don't…don't you love me too?"

Carlos couldn't even bear to shuffle Cecil off his feet. He stared down, pondering. It was true, he did love Cecil. He loved him more than any other partner he'd been with, but-

"I can't." He pulled back, until Cecil's grasp on him fell back, defeated. "I can't do this." Not when Cecil had quite literally, although indirectly, _killed_ him. "I'm sorry, Cecil. But I need to leave." He turned away from Cecil's deflated figure and walked to the door. He didn't spare a glance back, even as he heard the quiet sobbing from over his shoulder.


End file.
